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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25518259">Hydra</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanusSchuyler/pseuds/JanusSchuyler'>JanusSchuyler</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Hypnosis, Maybe a oneshot idk, Remy - Freeform, Remy Sanders - Freeform, Unsympathetic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Unsympathetic Dark Sides (Sanders Sides), Unsympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Unsympathetic Sides (Sanders Sides), hypnosis!Janus, non-romantic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:41:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,702</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25518259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanusSchuyler/pseuds/JanusSchuyler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Virgil isn't happy with Janus' powers. What reason does he have, after all the times Janus has used them?</p><p>Time to strike back.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Quick note: No, I do not have an upload schedule. I just update whenever I write another chapter. Yes, it's annoying, but I'm trying my best. Maybe someday I'll have one.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Virgil was tired of Janus. He always had been. And now that the others had accepted him - without his input - he was done. Just completely done. It was one thing to take advice from the snake, but to accept him? That couldn’t be right. And he knew exactly why. He was too manipulative. He knew every thought of every side, and he knew how to worm his way into every single mind. That was a known fact. But the real question -</p><p>Did he use his powers? His stupid intoxicating eyes, his voice pulling people down into a state where they couldn’t fight his words? Virgil wasn’t there to find out, and not knowing drove him crazy. He remembered that feeling, of losing control against your own will, just sinking and not knowing where you were going. It was nice, when you wanted it. But Janus didn’t really care about all that anymore.<br/>
Virgil remembered being happy with the dark sides, fighting Janus’ power simply as a training exercise. A game. He’d gotten good, too. And then he left for the light sides and everything went to Hell. Janus seemed to almost corrupt, turning darker than he’d ever been. And eventually? Getting revenge on Virgil. Gaps in his memory marked every incident - almost twenty. One second on the couch and then suddenly laying in his bed asleep. It was so petty. He knew Janus never really did anything. But the sheer thought of not being in control of his own mind…</p><p>And then he just came into the light sides as though nothing had ever happened. The others didn’t know yet. Virgil nor Janus had told them, and Virgil doubted the snake had plans to. It was an ace up his sleeve. A tool to get them to trust him, the same as his name reveal. Everything Janus revealed about himself was simply manipulation. Virgil knew that. But he was tired of being manipulated. He was tired of Deceit’s little games. His pretending and dancing and dazzling.</p><p>Why not show him how it felt?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Ease of Falling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's funny how weak we become when caught off guard. How easily we tend to... fall.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Janus was sitting in his room. It was decently large, and mostly themed with dark wood and black fabrics. There was an armchair, but Janus much preferred the windowsill. It was much warmer there anyway, and that helped him relax. Not that he was ever fully relaxed - some part of him was always watching and waiting, on guard and careful. But he could get some semblance of calm from the warmth of the sun, and that’s all he needed. So he sat there, on the windowsill, thinking.</p><p>There was a knock on the door. “Come in…” he called languidly.</p><p>Virgil opened it. “Oh, good, you’re here.” He was standing there, hoodie zipped up, seeming his normal self. Janus looked him up and down from where he was sitting. Why was he here, then, if nothing seemed wrong?</p><p>“Do you need something?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. </p><p>“I… I wanted to talk to you.” He wasn’t looking at Janus, but that was normal for him, so he passed it off as nothing. </p><p>“Come in then, sit,” He patted the sill beside him. Normally he wouldn’t listen to Virgil, but this seemed important. </p><p>Virgil didn’t hesitate to join him. Janus took back the previous assumption - something was definitely wrong. The anxious one shifted, trying to get comfortable. “I learned something a bit back, and I think you need to know.”</p><p>“And what is that?” </p><p>“Can you look at me for a second please?”</p><p>Janus looked up, and immediately regretted it. </p><p>Virgil smirked. His irises were suddenly shifting into a thousand shades of swirling purple and black, impossible to look away from. “I found out that I could learn your little magic trick too. I’ve spent months, even before you joined us, learning. All by myself. Are you proud of me?” he teased. </p><p>Janus tried to activate his own powers, but couldn’t seem to bring them up. “Oh, you’re a very good trier, Virgil. It’s going to take more than that to entrance me, though.” he deadpanned, feigning amusement to hide the panic rising in him. </p><p>“You think this is it?” he chuckled. “You think I was just going to show you some pretty eyes?”</p><p>He tried to pull away from his eyes but couldn’t. This was bad. “I wouldn’t expect anything more from you. Never struck me as the type to actually go through-”<br/>
“<br/>
Stop distracting yourself.” Virgil’s tone was woven with magic, each word strangely calming, eroding Janus’ panic.“Stop fighting and fall. It’ll be over soon, I promise. And you won’t remember a thing ”</p><p>“What if I… don’t do that,” said Janus in an attempt to hold onto his sarcastic self, “and you let me go.”</p><p>Virgil chuckled, a melodic sound that didn’t match his words. “Let you go? You never let me go, so why should I? You always made sure I never remembered, that I fell asleep. But for what? The pettiness of it?”</p><p>“I never did anything-”</p><p>“Shh… I know. And I won’t either. I promise.”</p><p>Janus frowned, confused and falling against his will. “You aren’t lying.”</p><p>“See? Exactly. Just let me in. Stop fighting, Janus. I won’t do a single thing.” He stroked down his nose a few times, a calming motion Janus knew all too well. He had used that on Virgil a hundred times. And it was working.</p><p>“No. I don’t trust you.”</p><p>“You don’t? But Janus, you’re so good at gauging who to trust.” Virgil teased. His eyes shifted into soft green, pulling him further in.</p><p>“Exactly, I shouldn’t… shouldn’t trust you.” Janus stammered out, still trying to tug away. He was getting dangerously close to the edge of trance, he had to fight-</p><p>“Shh… let go. Off the edge, deeper and deeper…”</p><p>He sighed. “I don’t wanna...”</p><p>“Sleep.”</p><p>And then Virgil snapped, and Janus was gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Nothing Changes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the aftermath, Virgil visits Remy.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Okay, a few things:</p><p>- I suck at writing Remy</p><p>- Hey, there's swearing in this chapter! I can justify my teen rating now!</p><p>- A N G S T</p><p>- I have no upload schedule</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Remy wasn’t a side. Not technically, anyway. He wasn’t and would never become one, despite the pleading of many a fan. Remy was happy right where he was, a sassy bitch of a short video character. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t integral to Thomas. He was, in fact, one of the most important beings in the mindscape, though he never acted like it. Sleep took his job very seriously. And sometimes doing that job meant using a bit of magic here and there. </p><p>And, as he had recently found out, sometimes it meant teaching the magic to others. Powers like his were rarely self-taught, and that’s what made them so special. Remy never interfered with the sides’ problems. Stress on him was less sleep for Thomas. So he stayed away from them and they stayed away from him, rarely interacting despite living in the same house. This made the time all those months ago Virgil bothered him quite a surprise. Remy didn’t know what he needed the powers for, and he wasn’t about to ask. But now that Virgil had told him - without any prompting - what he had done, he wished he’d asked earlier. </p><p>“I’m sorry, you… you… what?” Remy asked, astonished. </p><p>“He deserved it.” Virgil said simply. He stood in the doorway of Remy’s room, looking mildly disgruntled and without a shred of remorse.</p><p>“You could’ve hurt yourself! I mean, sure, babe, using those powers without consent is never okay, but that’s a topic for in a minute.”</p><p>“And yet,” he shrugged sarcastically, “would you look at that, I’m not hurt.”</p><p>“Oh sure, you aren’t, but you could’ve been. Hun, you have to be careful! You’re new to this.”</p><p>“Are you angry or worried? I’m very confused right now.”</p><p>“Both! Just… get in here.” He dragged Virgil onto his bed and sat down beside him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”</p><p>Virgil glared at him. “One, don’t touch me, and two, yes. I’m fine. Stop asking.”</p><p>“Stop looking at me like that. I didn’t do anything, hun. This is all you.”</p><p>“You’re the one who taught me without even asking what I was gonna do with it.” </p><p>“Well, excuse me, I didn’t expect you to be that stupid! Do you know what he could’ve done to you, hun?”</p><p>Virgil’s tone hardened. “I know what he could’ve done. And that’s exactly why I did it. Because I’ve been through it before, and I hated it. Because he needed to know what it felt like to know you’re not in control!” he exclaimed, then quickly lowered his voice, realizing his outburst. “He needed to know. I don’t even know how many times he did it to me, and-”</p><p>“That wasn’t my fault.” </p><p>“I never said it was. But you have to understand that I had a reason. And maybe it’s not the best answer, but I don’t care. It’s not like he cared either.”</p><p>Remy sighed. “Virgil, you’re sinking to his level, hun. You can’t do that.”</p><p>“I don’t care. Why should I? After all, he spent so long torturing me, and none of the others even know! Because he keeps his secrets, because he forces me into not telling them. I just want to tell them. He’s dangerous and none of them understand that!”</p><p>“Hun, he’s not as bad as he used to be-”</p><p>“Don’t even start,” Virgil clenched his fists. “Don’t even try to tell me that he’s changed. I know he never changes. He makes it look like he’s changed. He manipulates and twists until nothing makes sense anymore! None of you have seen what he does. I have. And none of you believe me. They brush me off, they say that I’m being dramatic. I’m not being dramatic, Remy!” He was holding back tears at this point. “But they don’t care. And clearly, neither do you.”</p><p>“Virgil, hun, please. You know I care. And yes, he’s done some messed up shit in the past. But he’s trying to change.” Remy took his hands gently. “He’s changing. Slowly, sure, but it’s happening.”</p><p>He didn’t pull away this time. “I don’t believe that. I can’t believe that, Remy. He’s never changed before. What reason does he have to start now?”</p><p>“I know it seems unlikely, but please, Virgil, give him a chance.”</p><p>“I don’t know if I can.” And with that, he left.</p>
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